The Tower
by Whispering Darkness
Summary: A strange little AU story. Sai is a young woman, Hikaru is a girl too, her student and friend. There is a little problem. Hikaru tries to solve it the Hikaru way...
1. Prologue

**The Tower**

**---**

**Author's note:**

A strange little story that came to me when listening to Vienna Teng's "The Tower"

**AU**: Both Hikaru and Sai are female and Sai is a real person, not a ghost! The storyline is about the same, except Hikaru obviously never played as Sai. Other pro's are still curious about the girl who became such a strong player without an official teacher and about the mysterious internet player who defeated Touya Meijin.

---

**Prologue**

---

"What! Sai, no!"

"I'm sorry, Hikaru-chan but there is nothing I can do about it."

"But you can't give up go! You live go, you breathe go! How can they… they… argh!"

"Calm down, my deshi. My fate has been decided. A good go player knows when to resign."

Hikaru looked up at the young woman she met when she was a sixth grader. It's amazing how one moment can turn a person's life completely upside down, that's what happened when she met Sai. Back then she had been in the girls' soccer team and had spent most of her time with her friends; she enjoyed shopping with them or watching movies. Now she is a professional go player. It has been an interesting three years, learning go from Sai and becoming a professional player.

Three years. It seemed both longer and shorter at the same time; her life before meeting Sai seems like a lifetime ago and yet those three years flew by really quickly, three years wasn't nearly long enough!

"But Sai, you love go..." Hikaru tried once more, her voice softer now, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Hikaru" Sai smiled a sad, gentle smile "I really enjoyed these go-filled years we spend together. I am glad that I found you. That, although I would never be allowed to walk the path of a professional go player, I can still see my dreams come true in you."

"Sai…" the tears were making their way down Hikaru's cheeks now.

"I'm sorry, my dear friend. I would have liked to continue walking down this path with you, teaching you and playing net-go. It is a pity that that is not the fate reserved for me." Sai said in her soft, kind voice, gently hugging her crying friend.

It had been about a week since Sai had told her deshi that her family would not allow her to play go anymore and one day longer since her parents had informed Sai herself of their decision. Sai had been very shocked at first; although her parents didn't allow her to pursue a career as a professional player and didn't want her to play at go salons or tournaments they had never denied her net-go or the many games she had played with Hikaru.

They had left her to her own devices, to a certain extend, setting up dates for her with young men from their (high-class) society, but because she'd never shown any more interest than politeness demanded they had decided that it was time to find a husband for her, before she was too old.

Now they wouldn't let her play go anymore, she was twenty-two and her family would see her married before long, which was a lot easier to achieve if Sai used her time to meet with the men her family deemed acceptable matches for her, instead of playing go.

It had taken Sai a couple of days to come to terms with this decree, but in the end she had accepted her fate, she would resign herself to her family's wishes, as she had always done.

Now, a little more than a week after the decision was made, it seemed to Sai that her friend had finally accepted the truth too.

Sai should have known better. Hikaru _is_ Hikaru after all, she may have grown up a lot under Sai's guidance but she's still the same stubborn girl as she had always been.

The girl who bleached her bangs blond no matter what her parents or anyone else had to say about it.

The girl who stubbornly pursued a career as a professional go player despite the fact that the only one who really supported her at first was Sai, despite the fact that the other go players had been disregarding the lively, trendy young girl at first.

The girl who insisted on playing first board against Youngha because the Korean had insulted her teacher's idol, paying no attention to the ruckus it caused.

Let it never be said that that girl would back down without one hell of a fight.

---


	2. Chapter 1

**The Tower**

**---**

**Chapter 1**

---

'Well, that went well' Hikaru thought sarcastically to herself.

She had tried to talk Sai's parents into changing their minds. It was a disaster. Sure, it had started out alright; they had been understanding about Hikaru's displeasure over not being able to spend as much time with Sai anymore. Now that her parents were introducing Sai to just about every marriageable bachelor remotely close to Sai's own age, her teacher hadn't been able to play go against Hikaru as much as before. Moreover Sai's parents had been pushing their daughter into meeting those men with the clear intention that she better choose one of those rich men soon, before they loose interest and choose another as their wife.

'Though how anyone could lose interest in someone as kind and beautiful as Sai is beyond me. They don't deserve her anyways. Disgusting self-satisfied pricks, the lot of them, going on about the duties of a housewife and Sai's parents just nodding along'

'Gah! I can't stand them! Those men and that stupid family of her, taking go away from Sai! Taking Sai away from me!'

Hikaru kicked an empty soda can that was conveniently littered in kicking distance of her foot, while thinking back on the words Sai's mother had told her earlier. "I understand that you are upset about not being able to spend so much time with Sai-chan anymore, Shindou-san, but this is also for her own good. She cannot hope to find a good, suitable husband if she keeps up wasting time with a silly game like that, rich men are just not interested in a young lady with such a silly hobby. Now I don't mind you spending time with her, but you should think off a more appropriate hobby for both of you. It would be in your own interest too, Shindou-san. How will you ever find a husband when you spend all your time at that Go club of yours? Now, Sai-chan will be busy with her suitors for a while now and after that there will be preparations to be made and a wedding to arrange and after that she will have to get settled in her new home. I'm afraid you won't have many chances of spending time with her. Why don't you come up with a suitable hobby in the meantime? I'm sure Sai-chan would be delighted if you would share it with her, after she is settled."

After that monologue the conversation went bad really fast.

'Perhaps I shouldn't have been so rude.' The thought momentarily crossed Hikaru's mind, before quickly being chased away by the more powerful thought 'That stupid woman! Argh! I hate her! silly game? Go club? hobby? Gah! the nerve of her! Why does Sai need a husband anyways? If that damn woman didn't deny Sai the chance to be a go pro she would be making enough money on her own. She wouldn't need a husband! Stupid woman.'

Hikaru hadn't really been paying attention to where she was going, too focussed on her friend's troubles that she had made her own. 'There must be something I can do! I owe her so much! But how can I help her with something like this… It's just so hopeless… Sai… I can't imagine her not playing go… Sai without go is… it's… it's just freaking wrong, that's what it is!'

"Shindou-san?" It was Isumi's voice that startled her out of her angry thoughts.

"Isumi-san?" She blinked, clearly seeing her fellow go pro in front of her. "What are you doing here?"

Isumi looked at her strangely, a little worry shining through in his eyes, "Are you alright, Shindou-san?"

"Of couse, why?"

"I have a game this afternoon, Shindou-san, it is only natural for me to be at the Go Association, but I thought you didn't have any games today?"

"Eh?" It was only then that Hikaru looked around and saw that they were indeed standing in front of the Japanese Go Association's building. "Oh. Ehm. You're right, I don't have any games today." 'I guess my feet just took me here' she added silently in her mind.

Isumi just nodded, accepting her answer in his quiet way, understanding she might not want to talk about what it was that was bothering her. "Do you want to go inside?" He asked, the worry still not quite gone from his eyes.

"Ah! Sure!" Hikaru nodded, with a wide smile that might have been slightly forced, but if her friend noticed, he didn't say anything. But then, that was his way.

---

When Hikaru entered the building the first thing she heard was Sai's name. She stopped walking abruptly, causing Isumi to call out another worried "Shindou-san?" that shifted the attention of the occupants of the lobby to her.

Hearing her friend's name spoken out loud at such an unexpected moment brought all the turmoil that had momentarily receded with her meeting with Isumi back to the forefront of her mind. It took Hikaru a moment to register that it had been Waya's voice mentioning the name that was at the centre of her troubled mind. It took her another moment to register Isumi's voice and she slowly turned her head to face him. "Yes?" She choked out, unable to add the customary 'Isumi-san' to her sentence in her present state of mind.

Waya didn't allow Isumi any chance to answer, taking over the conversation with a loud "Oi, Shindou!" quickly followed by a questioning "I thought you didn't have any games today?"

One more moment passed before Hikaru finally collected herself enough to reply "I don't, Waya."

When she saw his face become clouded with confusion she added "I just went for a walk and ended up here." which was mostly true in any case.

Waya gave her one more inquiring look before shrugging his shoulders and turning back to his conversation with Saeki-san.

This gave Hikaru the opportunity to slide her gaze over the others currently in the lobby; Amano-san was talking with Shinoda-sensei near the elevators on the other side of the room. Ogata-sensei was standing casually next to the fish tank, smoking one of his cigarettes. She vaguely wondered if smoke could bother fish before her attention was once again claimed by the sound of her friend's name from Waya's lips.

"I'm telling you, the net-go world is going crazy trying to figure out why Sai doesn't play anymore! He disappeared, just like that. Everyone is talking about it, there are a dozen of crazy theories all over the forums but nobody knows for sure what happened!"

Hikaru's face lost its customary smile at that remark, none of the three young pro's at her side noticed however, too focused on the conversation. A thoughtful Isumi nodded at his friend before Saeki posed a question that made Hikaru turn a deathly pale as her worst fears were finally uttered out loud by someone else.

"Do you think he will ever return to playing net-go?"

**--- **

Hikaru's friends continued the conversation, but suddenly the words didn't make sense to her anymore, nothing made sense. Was the room supposed to be spinning? She had never noticed it doing so before. Her thoughts were one confused jumble as the reality of the situation set in. She had already known about this, she had already worried about it, cried about it, yelled about it. She had already followed all these avenues of thought, wondering if Sai would ever play go again, on the net or with her. If all the go-filled weekends, days, hours she had happily spend with Sai were over, gone for good. Why did she suddenly feel so faint? What was it about hearing the words uttered out loud by her friends that made everything real? What was it about hearing the words uttered by other professional go players that made it all so final?

"Shindou?" Wasn't that her name? She was sure it was, it sounded very familiar to her, but she couldn't place the voice that had uttered it. "Shindou-san! Are you feeling unwell?" The first voice must have drawn the attention of Isumi-san on her again. "Shindou?" Ah, that was Waya. "Shindou-chan?" And her sempai, Saeki.

Why couldn't she see them though? Were her eyes closed? When had she closed them? She couldn't remember.

"Isumi-san" It was the first voice again, who was it? She was sure she knew the person speaking but her mind was too confused to figure it out. "Help me move her to one of those chairs, she looks as though she might faint." Faint? Her? Not a chance! Hikaru doesn't faint, ever! That's something for weaklings. She tried to tell them but her mouth just wouldn't cooperate. She felt a hand on her shoulder and an other one on her arm, guiding her somewhere. 'Probably to a chair' her mind supplied, unable to focus on anything significant. And sure enough a moment later the hand on her shoulder gently pushed her down until she sat.

"Saeki-san, get her some water. Shindou? Can you hear me?" It was beginning to annoy her, the fact that she couldn't figure out who the person taking control of the situation was. "Shindou! Answer me!" Yep, she was getting annoyed, who the hell was he? She opened her eyes and found herself looking at Ogata-sensei.

---

'Aaah!' Not exactly who she had planned to first lay her eyes on after a mental breakdown or whatever else you might call it. 'Ogata-sensei is creepy…' Amazing, how your thoughts trail off in the strangest directions, especially in these sorts of situations.

"Ogata-sensei, I brought the water you asked for." This remark from Saeki-san was enough to have the intimidating go pro move aside for a moment, allowing the 5-dan to give her the water.

"Arigatou, Saeki-san." Hikaru mumbled, carefully drinking the water, hands slightly shaking.

It was Waya who asked the question on all of their minds; "What happened, Shindou?"

"I just didn't feel so good all of a sudden, Waya." She answered, not knowing what else she could say.

"Is that so, Shindou?" Great, having Ogata-sensei involve himself in the conversation will probably make it even worse.

She just nodded her head, not trusting herself not to reveal anything more about Sai and her connection with her than she already had that day in the hospital.

She slowly finished the water Saeki-san had brought her. She risked a glance at Ogata-sensei and saw him watching her with a touch of suspicion in his eyes, a stark contrast with the concern on her friends' faces.

It had been Ogata's voice that had called out her name at first, drawing the attention of the others to her, had he already been watching to see how she was going to react when he heard her friends' conversation about Sai? He had been suspicious of her connection with Sai ever since she had set up that game with Toyou Meijin.

After spending a couple of minutes composing herself she mustered up a smile for her worried friends and assured them that she was quite alright, and that it might be best for her to go home now.

"Are you sure you're alright, Shindou-san? Do you need someone to help you get home?"

"You worry too much, Isumi-san!" Hikaru answered, her smile more genuine now "I'm fine now, after sitting down for a while."

While Waya and Saeki nodded their heads, their concern melting into a relieved smile, Isumi-san gave her one more once-over before nodding his consent. "If you're sure"

"I am, I just feel a little out off it, that's all. I'm gonna go home now and rest a bit." She bowed her head slightly at her friends and the 9-dan before taking her leave with a "Goodbye everyone, thank you for your concern!"

She looked back at the group of professional go players when she heard Waya's reply.

"Later Shindou, take it easy, ok!"

She saw him looking at her with a friendly smile that was mirrored on the face of the other member of Morishita-sensei's study group. Isumi-san just looked worried and slightly thoughtful. He didn't really buy it. Figures. But it was the expression on Ogata-sensei's face that worried her the most. Just by glancing at him she could tell. He did draw the connection between her and Sai. He probably suspected already, sure, but now he knew. She had given herself away, just by her extreme reaction to Waya's news. Hikaru might be dense in some things, but this she could see as clearly as she could see that the sky was a depressing whitish colour. Ogata-sensei knew.

---

**Author's note:**

RinnaS and SilverWhiteTiger: Thanks for reviewing! - I hope this chapter is ok. Perhaps I'm making Hikaru a little bit emotionally unstable, lol. I just hope I'm not overdoing it…


	3. Chapter 2

**The Tower**

**---**

**Chapter 2**

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Hikaru made her way to the Go Institute, fervently hoping that she wouldn't run into Ogata-sensei after yesterday's escapade. 'Gah! I'm just so bad at keeping secrets and Ogata-sensei is way too suspicious of me… And I still haven't figured out how I'm gonna help Sai.' After the conversation between Waya and Saeki-san that had shocked her the day before, she had decided that she wouldn't let _it_ happen. 'Sai will return to playing net-go! She will spend many hours playing go with me again! I won't give up!' With those determined thoughts she entered the lobby.

To her relief the intimidating 9-dan wasn't anywhere in the lobby, nor were the other pro's that had been present at her little emotional breakdown. Hikaru grimaced at the thought of nearly fainting. 'I won't let the whole thing with Sai catch me off guard again! And I will find a solution to all of this! I will! But first…' The young go professional made her way to the elevator and to the match she was to play.

---

"Shindou!" Waya called out, the moment she stepped outside the room. It was lunch break and apparently Waya had been playing a game too. She smiled at her friend and called out his name in return.

"How are you doing today, Shindou? Feeling better?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Waya. I'm playing a 3-dan today, I'm in the lead for now. How's your game going?" Once upon a time Hikaru would have boasted that she was totally winning her game but after spending many years with the polite, go-obsessed Sai she had (after getting scolded by her many times) learned that it does not do to boast about a game still in progress. Now it was up to her 'sensei' to teach her that it does not do to boast at all, a lesson that might still take a while to be learned.

"It's a close game for me so far, anything might still happen." Waya answered, while the both of them were putting on their shoes. "However, as long as I don't make any mistakes I should be able win."

Hikaru made a sound of agreement and guided the conversation to a much more important subject. "So, wanna get ramen for lunch?" She was already walking in the direction of her favourite lunch place.

Her friend answered her with a groan.

---

As Hikaru walked out of the room in which the games were held, any thought of her life as a professional go player left her mind. It is startling how easy it has become for the young go player to turn the switch in her head; the moment she sits down in front of a goban her mind clears itself of anything else but the game in front of her. It is probably this skill that today's win could be attributed to, because without it her thoughts would have been lingering on Sai's ordeal instead of them being focused were they should be. Now that the game was over, however, she could allow her thoughts to be taken up by her friend's troubles again.

'I've already decided that I'm not going to let Sai's parents and suitors take go away from her, but what can I do to help? I've already tried talking to Sai, she loves go but she won't go against her family. I've talked with her parents, which didn't help the situation at all.'

She took a seat in the lunch room, still deep in thought.

'Talking to her suitors is also doomed to failure, they are all rich snobs who would probably prefer it if she gives up on a game they have absolutely no clue about. It would be fine for them if she has more time to be the perfect little housewife. From what I've seen and heard of them so far I doubt telling them how much Sai loves go will change their minds… it certainly didn't help with her parents.'

"Shindou-san!" Hikaru looked up to see Saeki-san entering the room.

"Good afternoon, Saeki-san! Aren't you a bit early? I thought Morishita's study session didn't start until three 'o clock?" Hikaru asked the 5-dan, after a quick look at the clock.

Her sempai sat down beside her, nodding his head. "Yeah, I am a bit early, I wanted to talk to Waya-kun. Is he done with his game yet?"

Hikaru gave him a negative answer, telling him her friend would probably be done soon. "I glanced at his game and if all goes well he'll probably win it a few moves from now."

As if summoned by their thoughts, the object of their conversation entered. "Saeki-san! You're here already?" he said, nodding his hello to Hikaru too.

Once again, Hikaru delved back into her thoughts, trying to find a solution, thinking up many potential actions to take and predicting what would happen if she chose to make that move. It was a lot harder in real life than in a go match, however, and she started to despair ever finding a solution. She sighed, giving up on figuring something out for now and turned her attention to the conversation the two go players next to her were having.

"It's just annoying, you know, she keeps nagging me about the amount of time I spend playing go, saying that I don't give her enough of my time."

Waya nodded as his friend continued. "Whenever I have the time I do take her out to dinner or a movie or something, but then after a while I'll get busy again. She just doesn't understand how necessary it is to prepare for matches with higher dans. And it's not like I don't try, even when I'm really busy I try to spend time with her too, I used to ask her if she wanted to go over the games I was studying with me. Natsumi knows the basics of go, and I wouldn't mind explaining the things she doesn't get, but she's just not interested enough to spend so much time on go." Saeki-san shook his head sadly and looked at Waya for advice.

"Yeah, It's really hard; dating someone who isn't a go player too. I can't really help you with this, Saeki-san, my only attempt at dating someone not interested in go ended after only a week. I can't imagine how you managed to survive two whole months with Natsumi-san." Waya answered, in his own blunt way.

Hikaru didn't pay any attention to what they said after that, her mind drifted back to when she heard Touya tell her how much money professional go players could make. In a flash Ogata-sensei's expensive red car filled her vision before her mind drifted to Sai's mother telling her that 'rich men are just not interested in a young lady with such a silly hobby' after which her thoughts finally settled on the words she just heard Waya say; 'It's really hard; dating someone who isn't a go player too.'

'It's a stupid idea!' she told herself firmly 'it's stupid, embarrassing and doomed to failure.' Hikaru shook her head at the desperate ploy her mind supplied her with. 'It's the silliest solution any human being could come up with and it's not gonna work.'

By the time Morishita's study session began, Hikaru's will was resolved. 'I'm going to set Sai up with a rich go player or die (of embarrassment) trying!'

---

**Author's note:**

Hmm, this chapter's a bit shorter than I wanted it to be, but the chapter 'felt' finished so I guess this is it for now. I'm not fully satisfied about it, but there isn't really anything that I felt needed changing...Anyways, onwards to Hikaru the match-maker! - (I made up a girlfriend for Saeki o.0)

Silver-White-Tiger: Thank you for your review! - I know Sai's love for the game is immense, but I figured that if she grew up in a rather strict family and had been denied becoming an Insei or just taking the pro exam she would sort of be used to having her family make the decisions for her. I just see the Sai I'm writing as an obedient, kind, polite person who only really lights up when it comes to go, although she has become a bit less restrained / withdrawn because of Hikaru's influence. Although I have written some future scenes already, I don't have any with Akira yet… I guess I'll have to wait and see like you where the story takes me.

NeoGene: grins I like Ogata-sensei, I couldn't resist bringing him in! I figured, suspicious and 'cold' as he might be, he is still an adult and as an 'older' go pro sort of a teacher to the insei and especially Hikaru (because he sponsored her) so he would feel a bit responsible in these sorts of situations. Not really an exciting chapter, but I hope you still liked it!

Hazuki128: Thanks for reviewing! Of course I had to check out your own stories after reading your review. - I like your songfic (haven't read the other one since I don't know the anime? it's about. I debated making this a songfic too, but then I would have had to leave so much of my ideas out of it. Perhaps the last chapter (or a bonus chapter?) will be a songfic of 'the Tower' from Vienna Teng. But I'm not sure about that yet…

TheHamsterInMyMind: Thank you! The plot just wouldn't leave me alone, so I had to write it. I hope you like the 'new' spin on it. (though it was going here since the beginning, did you see it coming?)


	4. Chapter 3

**The Tower**

**--**

**Chapter ****3**

--

The clouds had unleashed a ferocious storm, the rain pounding loudly against the windows. Inside a young girl stared at the raging elements, not really seeing Mother Nature's emotional outburst but instead lost in her own thoughts.

Morishita's study session had finished about half an hour ago, it was now nearly five thirty and most go professionals had gone home already, the lucky ones managing to outrun the storm. Even though her friends had warned her that it was probably going to rain soon, Hikaru had decided to stay for a bit longer; that the Go Institute was a good a place as any to think.

Her mother wasn't at home; she had just left the day before to visit her sister and wouldn't return until Monday. Her father was probably still at work. The troubled go professional didn't feel like sitting in her empty room in the silent house, knowing that it would be very counterproductive to try and come up with a plan to help Sai while staring at the goban that they had spent so many hours playing games on. That road let to despair and what she needed now was to hold on to the glimmer of hope; to hold on to the desperate plan she had just come up with. A long shot, true, but it was the only plan she had so it had to work.

'No matter what, I will make this work! Sai without Go is like… the sky without the sun' at those thoughts, Hikaru looked outside, really seeing instead of just staring now 'which is very depressing' she finished her thoughts, for the sunless weather outside was the bleakest she had seen in a long time.

'I guess I'll be stuck here for a while, it doesn't look like it will stop raining anytime soon…'

--

Hikaru wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there, her mind going over the go players she knew that were roughly Sai's age, before an unexpected voice caught her off guard. "Shindou? What are you doing here?"

She turned around, startled, facing none other than her rival "Touya!" she called out in shock before snapping at him "Don't scare me like that! Why do you always sneak up on me!" she had been unable to come up with the 'who' and 'how' of her plan so far and decided to take her anger out on the convenient target.

The (usually) polite go prodigy frowned at her remark telling her that he didn't sneak up on her and that it wasn't his fault that she didn't pay any attention to her surroundings.

"You still haven't answered my question, Shindou, what are you still doing here?"

Hikaru shrugged her shoulders "I could ask you the same question, you know."

"I asked you first, Shindou." He accompanied that statement with an annoyed glare.

Hikaru ignored both his glare and the childish comeback 'I'm such a bad influence on him' she thought, stifling a smug grin that was threatening to take control of her face, her good mood immediately restored. "So, what _are_ you doing here, Touya?"

Her rival gave up, shaking his head at her as usual, but answering her question all the same. "I had an interview with Amano-san about me making 4-dan. How about you? I thought Morishita's study group only lasted till 5 'o clock."

Not in the mood to explain she answered only with a short "It's raining"

"It wasn't raining at five 'o clock." Her persistent rival mercilessly answered.

Now Hikaru was getting annoyed again. 'Stupid Touya, it's not any of his business anyways!' "Well it is raining now!"

Touya's reply to that clearly gave away that he was losing his, when it came to her not quite infinite, patience: "What kind of answer is that? It doesn't matter if it's raining now, it wasn't raining when your study session finished, so why didn't you just go home?"

She knew she shouldn't argue with Touya so much, many had commented on how they always yelled at each other, especially in the discussions of games. When her mother found out how she had been behaving towards the 'polite young boy' Hikaru had been scolded for a long time, in that case her mother certainly didn't hold back on her disapproval.

Right now the troubled young girl couldn't care less and gratefully fell back in the familiar ritual with her rival, deliberately focusing on the wrong part of his sentence. "It might not matter to _you_ that it's storming outside, but I'm either stuck here until the rain ceases or I'll get one hell of a cold."

Their 'conversation' if it could be so called, was interrupted by the timely arrival of Touya's ride home. "Akira-kun" He nodded at the go prodigy, before turning to the only other occupant of the lobby "Shindou" Ogata-sensei's voice drawled "What are you still doing here?"

"Ogata-sensei!" Hikaru answered, the sound resembling a squeak far more than she wished it too. She tried to regain her normal tone of voice as she answered his question, not wanting him to know how much his sudden presence startled her: "I'm just stuck because of the storm, that's all."

"I see" His answer was short and accompanied by one of his characteristic 'looks' this one seemed to contain a certain amount of 'knowing' as well as a pinch of 'suspicious'.

After a short moment of silence the 9-dan made her the predictable offer of driving her home; "I'm already driving Akira-kun home, and your house isn't that far a detour."

Hikaru vehemently shook her head at the intimidating go professional "Ah, thank you, Ogata-sensei, but you really shouldn't trouble yourself. I'll just wait out the storm, I'm sure it will stop raining soon!"

At that all three pro's looked out of the window at the stormy weather before the two males turned to the sheepish girl.

Touya was staring at her in disbelief while Ogata-sensei raised a sceptical eyebrow.

Which was of course when a flash of lightning lit the room, followed by the loud rumble of thunder.

--

Hikaru sighed in relief as she closed the door behind her. After taking of her shoes she walked over to the kitchen, warming a pack of instant ramen for herself.

While waiting for the ramen to heat up, she thought back on the ride in Ogata-sensei's sports car. Even though the 9-dan hadn't asked her anything about Sai outright he did put in a lot of subtle digs. It began with him politely inquiring if she felt any better after nearly collapsing in the lobby the day before. That remark immediately summoned questions from her rival, questions that she either ignored or, when pressed, answered with as few words as possible. Not that it did any good, for Ogata-sensei was far too happy to answer any questions Touya had in excruciating detail. The 9-dan told her rival everything; about how her skin took on an unatural pale colour and the fact that she nearly fainted, a fact that she forcefully denied of course.

After that _lovely_ story she had to endure Ogata-sensei's questioning about what caused her sudden near collapse, rebutting her answer of 'not feeling so well that day' with the casual remark that she seemed fine when she came in.

She had never been so glad to reach the familiar street her house was in.

--

**Author's note: **

Hmm… this chapter has some sort of 'interlude' feeling… I'll try to 'make' something actually happen in the next chapter… some plot development would be nice. lol. Whenever I just start typing I get gigantic paragraphs of Hikaru's thoughts and feelings (that I try to split up for readability), then there are some conversations and voilà, the chapter 'feels' finished… Maybe I should make them longer, but whenever I've writing something of roughly this length I want to post it because I don't know when I'll feel like writing again.

Esa MaRie: Thank you for reviewing! I'm so glad you like it! I guess my summary is rather vague but I didn't want to give everything away right at the beginning. I'll probably change it a bit when the story is done though... at least by then I will actually know what my story is about! I'm not completely sure where it'll go from here, but Ogata _will_ probably be approached by Hikaru.

Hmm… I guess Sai is just really talented and learned by studying Shuusaku's games? lol, it's just a given in this story. And now on to a vastly more important subject… badgering you about your own fics! Please, please, please update _The Go Within_ again soon!! It's one of my absolute Hikaru no Go favourites! (I like _Lost Memories_ too, but prefer that one…) Update!

NeoGene: Thank you so much! -glows- Hikaru is way too stubborn to give up now. Sai will play go again if she has anything to say about it. You might be proud of her now, but wait till you see her bringing chaos to the Go World. lol, I've never tried any matchmaking… and neither has 'this' Hikaru… this is going to be fun! (I think) I really don't have any matchmaking ideas so far, so it might be a while till the next chapter comes out... then again, it might not... I'm a very impatient person!

Silver-White-Tiger: I blame Touya's unexpected appearance on you by the way…


	5. Chapter 4

**The Tower**

**--**

**Chapter ****4**

--

"Are you going to eat those?" Waya asked, eyeing Isumi's fries hungrily.

Isumi moved his food slightly away from his best friend, an action that had little effect, as the bold pro stole a couple of fries anyway.

It was one of the days on which all three go pro's had a morning game _and _their Insei friends were present at the Go Institute, so naturally, they were spending the lunch break sitting in the MacDonald's.

Hikaru had absentmindedly devoured a Big Mac, her mind spinning, trying to come up with ideas to set up Sai with a go player.

The previous evening she had called Sai's house, wanting to talk to her older friend but she didn't get to speak with the go player for long. Sai's mother had told Sai to hang up when one of those rich suitor-guys had arrived at their house. It had only brought home to Hikaru that she had to act soon. If it was up to Sai's parents, it would not be long before her best friend was married to one of those annoying snobs that would steal _her_ Sai from both Hikaru and the world of Go.

'I've got to do something soon! But what? I've never tried any matchmaking, how the hell am I going to get her to marry a go pro instead of those suitors her parents sic on her? Who would I set her up with anyways?'

'It should be a nice person who would let her play all the go she wants… but then, which go player would deny her that? Hmm… he should be a little bit older then her, I guess… and preferably rich… ' At the last thought Hikaru blinked. The only go pro's that she knew for sure were rich were the Touya's and Ogata-sensei. She shuddered. 'Ogata-sensei is way too creepy! I'm not going to set Sai up with him.' after shaking off that disturbing image Hikaru revised her thoughts. 'Ok, never mind the rich part, as far as I know every good pro makes more than enough money. But who to set her up with? I don't even know how old most of the go players are… and I'm awful at guessing ages. What sort of age difference is acceptable anyways?'

"I'm going to get some more fries, do you guys want any?" After 'helping' his friend finish of his fries Waya was still hungry.

Nase shook her head both at his question and at his gluttony, while Honda grinned at his friend's shamelessness but also refused the offer.

"I'm fine" Isumi answered with an amused smile before turning to Hikaru "Do you want any, Shindou-san?"

Hikaru shook her head, not really registering the question before answering and afterwards secretly a tad annoyed with herself for missing out on the fries because of her instinctual reaction to the question. But because she didn't want to get any strange looks because of her absentmindedness she just let it go. 'I really do have to solve this problem soon though; people are starting to notice me being even more inattentive than usual. But who to set Sai up with? I can't think of any guy deserving of her! But then, any go player is better than those rich suitors who wouldn't let her play go anymore.'

"Are you alright, Hikaru-chan?" Asumi-chan asked her.

She looked up at her Insei friend and answered with the usual "I'm fine."

"Are you sure, Shindou-san? You've been very quiet." Apparently Isumi-san wouldn't let her get off with a simple excuse this time. 'Not that I can blame him, after all, he was there at my little… whatever you want to call it. I know he was really worried that I nearly fainted. Isumi-san is just too kind…' her thoughts trailed off there and suddenly a question escaped her lips before she could stop it.

"Say, how old are you, Isumi-san?"

--

Hikaru quickly made her way into the room where she was to continue the go game that had started off before the lunch break. She was too early so the room was still mostly empty, not that Hikaru noticed, or cared. Once she was finally safely inside the room and away from the scrutiny of her friends she slapped herself on her forehead.

"Aah! I'm so stupid!" The thoughts were so powerful that she couldn't keep them inside her mind, so she allowed them the freedom to move into the air surrounding her.

This outburst caused the few go pro's already in the room to glance at the young pro, some with annoyance, others with amusement or curiosity. Not that Hikaru paid them any attention whatsoever. She continued her self bashing in the relative safety of her own head. 'I can't believe I asked that! Gah! They looked at me as if I were crazy… granted it was a strange question to ask… and a very strange moment to ask it but still! Eh! Now they think that _I'm_ interested in Isumi-san. My blushing denial probably didn't help the situation… and poor Isumi-san looked as if he wanted to disappear into thin air. The impossibility of which is very unfortunate, because I wouldn't have minded doing so myself!'

During her little mental visit to embarrassment-land she uttered a peculiar sound that sounded like a mixture of a dog's whine and a strangled cat. The pro's entering the room made a wide berth around the oblivious girl who looked like she might either spontaneously combust, or cause someone grievous harm.

'Aaaah! That was _so_ embarrassing! I can never look him in the eyes again! And the worst thing is: he never even answered me!'

--

"Ah! I'm so glad to be home! What a day!" Hikaru told the silent house.

Though she had managed to put the embarrassing escapade at lunch out of her mind during the game, facing an uncomfortable Isumi in the hallway afterwards had brought her blush back in full force. 'Argh! Now people will really think I have a crush on him! And I still haven't figured out how old he is… I don't even know if he has a girlfriend! Isumi-san is such a private person… But then, he is very kind and he would never deny Sai anything. I don't think he's really rich, but he's very polite and his family, though not as high class as Sai's, is pretty well off… Perhaps Sai's parents would be ok with it? How do I set them up anyways?'

Hikaru was giving herself a headache trying to come up with the answers to those questions. 'Maybe I'm going about it the wrong way? I've never tried any matchmaking before… As a go player I'm used to having to think many moves ahead but now, in real life I can't predict anything… I'm not finding any answers. Perhaps if I just take it one thing at a time? First I have to find out if Isumi-san is single, and if he is about the right age for Sai… Perhaps I could ask Akari to estimate his age for me, since I'm so bad at it… And I have to subtly find out if Sai's parents would approve of him, because otherwise it would all be useless anyways.'

Hikaru sat down at the table with the take-out she had picked up on the way home. 'Yes, I'll figure out those things first. _Then_ I can worry about actually setting them up together.' With those thoughts the go player dug into her dinner.

--

**Author's note:**

-sigh- I guess my chapters will just stay this short… I just can't seem to make them any longer! I looked back at my other chapters and noticed that they never contained more than one day. Chapter 2 and 3 were of the same day, but other than that they're all describing the happenings of one day. Perhaps I should name chapter 2 – 2a and chapter 3 – 2b. But then I'm to lazy to change it… I'm already halfway through the next chapter. I just can't seem to wait! I need to write more, more, more!! lol.

_**Question:**_ I don't really know much about Japanese people and their social whatsits, I just know that they're really polite with all the bowing and suffixes and using last names. Is it strange to have people assume that she is interested in Isumi just because she asked him his age?

RinnaS: Thank you so much!

Silver-White-Tiger: -grins- I did enjoy it that Akira suddenly showed up in my story like that… He plays a huge part in the original story so I guess it's only natural that he appears in this one… I never really thought up a role for him though… but then again the story isn't written yet, so anything could happen… your guess is as good as mine!

SeikaDragon: I'm glad you like the story! Akira is so cute! I hope this chapter was ok.

NeoGene: I hope you liked Hikaru's first attempt (sort of) of finding someone to date for Sai. Are you still proud of our not so subtle but very stubborn go pro? She won't give up though; there are many more embarrassing moments to come! (I think… It's not like I planned anything yet…)


	6. Chapter 5

**The Tower**

**--**

**Chapter ****5**

--

It was with a certain amount of trepidation that Hikaru made her way to the building in which today's go event was held. She didn't know which other pro's would be giving shidou-go lessons but she dearly hoped none of her friends would be present today. 'Ah, they'll never let this go… they'll either bug me about whether I like Isumi-san or laugh at me for my lack of tact.' Then another thought crossed her mind 'What if Isumi-san is there himself? Aah! Please Gods no!'

The gods seemed to like her; they granted her mental request. Isumi-san was not present at the go event.

But, since the gods like to tease even those they favour they watched with a certain amount glee as the preoccupied go pro literally ran into Isumi's best friend after entering the building.

"Shindou!" Her startled friend exclaimed.

"Ah! I'm sorry, Waya. I wasn't really watching were I was going."

Her friend shrugged at her apology; "That's alright." before moving on to the question Hikaru most feared. "So what was that all about, yesterday?"

"N…nothing! What are you talking about?" She replied to him, mentally imploring the gods once more, this time asking that her friend would just let it go.

Unfortunately for her, she had no such luck.

"Nothing? When I returned to the table with my fries everyone was staring at you like you were crazy. Which, admittedly isn't such an abnormality. But both you and Isumi were blushing tomato red. Isumi wouldn't tell me what happened… so I'll ask you, what was that all about?"

Hikaru's blush returned full force at the memory of the embarrassing moment. "Just a tiny misunderstanding." She eventually answered.

Waya raised an eyebrow at that "If it was 'just a tiny misunderstanding' Isumi wouldn't have minded telling me, what's going on, Shindou?"

At his response she groaned and put her head in her hands, she had never liked keeping secrets from her friends but there was no way that she could tell Waya about Sai. She'd never hear the end of it; her friend would be _very_ upset with her keeping such a secret from him all these years, especially since she _knows_ how badly Waya wants to know who Sai is. And then her friend would probably share the knowledge of Sai's identity with the whole Go World. Waya just isn't the type of guy who can keep a secret. Of course, she could just refer to Sai as 'a friend' but then, his aid in matchmaking would probably not help matters at all… Hikaru was not very tactful herself, but Waya was hardly the pinnacle of subtlety either.

"I just wanted to know how old he was, that's all." She was sick of lying and keeping secrets from her friend; she could be truthful about at least this much… even if it was embarrassing.

"You what?" Waya looked at her in amazement, both at the statement and her still present blush. "No way! You like Isumi?"

Hikaru looked at him in horror "NO!" she yelled at him, before lowering her voice at the looks the other occupants of the room were giving her 'it's a good thing the event hasn't started yet, they'd throw me out for sure' she thought, before turning her attention back to Waya. "Of course not!" she hissed at him "He's like my brother for god's sake!"

Her redheaded friend gave her one last scrutinizing look before nodding his acceptance of her answer. "Ok, but why did you ask him his age then?"

Hikaru shrugged, glad that she had at least managed to get the message across that she _did_ _not_ like Isumi-san, at least not in a romantic way.

"I just wondered, and the thought passed my lips before my mind caught up with what I was saying, you know."

It was a testament to how long Waya had known Hikaru that her answer actually made sense. Waya _did_ know, because his friend had always had the habit of speaking before thinking and it had gotten her in all sorts of trouble so far. Hikaru just wasn't Hikaru without sticking her foot in the mouth every once in a while.

So Waya just looked at his friend in amusement when she followed up her request for him to clear things up with Isumi with the question "So how old _is_ Isumi-san? He never answered me."

--

One answer, four shidou-go games, one thorough trouncing and a queue later Hikaru was sitting at a lunch table with Waya, happily devouring her sandwiches and commenting on the people currently at the event.

"And the second guy I played with stared at me sceptically while taking a seat and when I asked him how many handicap stones he wanted he was actually offended! He laughed at me in the face and you know what he said? 'I think you're in the wrong seat girl, there is supposed to be a professional go player there.'" Hikaru narrated the happenings to her colleague.

Waya winced; he'd had his share of comments like that too; his own appearance was hardly that of a typical professional go player either. Shindou had always had it worse though; besides her fashionable clothing there was also the fact that she's a girl, the Go world has always been more male oriented and female players were still typically seen as weaker, though Shindou's presence in the main leagues was slowly changing that. "Is he still alive?" he asked his friend, only half-joking.

Hikaru glared at him "I'm not that bad! I didn't even yell at him!"

Her friend's face clearly showed that he didn't believe her.

"I didn't!"

"Eh… right… so what did you do?"

Hikaru chose to ignore the doubt colouring his voice and answered him semi-truthfully "I didn't do anything!"

"Nothing?"

"That's right."

"You just let him get away with it?"

"Uhuh." Hikaru nodded her agreement with the statement.

"You didn't hit him, yelled at him or give him a death glare?"

"No."

There was a beat of silence between the disbelieving redhead and the lively girl.

"Well, I might have glared at him a little."

Waya nodded.

"But that's it!" She vehemently told him. "I didn't insult him or anything! I just politely asked him once more how many handicap stones he wanted. When he insisted he wanted none I bowed to him and started playing."

"How viciously did you beat him?"

"Eh… well… he deserved it!"

Any other professional go player would have told her that as a pro she should have stayed calm, that the game was supposed to be shidou-go and she should have stayed true to that instead of slaughtering a less experienced player. They would have told her that these sorts of events were to encourage beginners to spend more time playing go, instead of totally slaughtering them and thereby discouraging them.

But it was Waya sitting across from her now and his temper was as bad as her own. So he just nodded and took another bite from his own sandwich. The guy _had_ deserved it, after all.

--

**Author's note:**

Aah! Nothing seems to happen in my story! This whole chapter was just a conversation with Waya. –groans- Am I ever going to set Sai up with someone? Gee… the only helpful thing that happened was Hikaru figuring out Isumi's age. But I didn't even get to her thoughts about that because I felt that I had constantly written about her thoughts and feelings concerning the situation with Sai in all the previous chapters so now I wanted to delay any more thoughts like that for a while because otherwise it might get boring… even so this wasn't quite the most exciting chapter… Aah! I'm a complete failure… -throws hands up in the air in despair- Hey that rhymes…

My next chapter might take a little while longer… I had a lot of time to update this week, but I'll be rather busy in the weekend and I don't know how much time I have next week. Please be patient! (heh, I feel like a hypocrite now asking that. lol)

Silver-White-Tiger: Soon enough for you? lol. Ogata is very creepy but I like him despite (or perhaps because) of that, he's such a fun character! But then I like most of the Hikaru no Go cast! You're right about him being the last person Hikaru will want to match make Sai with. Thank you so much for your offer to help! I've already got many ideas and some future scenes ready but any ideas on how to do the actual matchmaking are very much welcomed, I'm really no good at it. How do you set people up together? I really don't have a clue… Maybe that's why I'm unconsciously dragging out the chapters before I get to that point… or maybe it's just character development…

SeikaDragon: -grins- I don't think Isumi is the right person for Sai either. I'm actually not quite sure who would be. I hope it's still believable that Hikaru chooses him. Hmm… you're not the only one to suggest that Akira should help Hikaru… I'm still not sure. I'll think about it! I just don't know if I'll be able to make it work without them seeming too much out of character… Hikaru has been keeping Sai a secret for so long I can't see her suddenly tell Akira about her… but then desperate circumstances ask for desperate measures… We'll see.


	7. Chapter 6

**The Tower**

**--**

**Chapter ****6**

--

It was three 'o clock and the building was empty. The go event had lasted until two 'o clock in the afternoon and there were no other events in the community building that day. The beginners, the professionals, and players of all levels in between had long since left, Waya amongst them. The only people around were the casual passer-bys and the girl who observed them.

'_Now_ what do I do?' Hikaru was seated on the wall enclosing the building, looking down on the footpath below. The young girl had decided against going home; it was still early and the weather was sunny so for now she was fine, sitting in the sun and thinking.

'Isumi-san is twenty years old.' The go player sighed. 'Sai is twenty-two, so that's probably acceptable. Right?' The girl sighed again. 'I just don't know anything about stuff like this. How do I get Isumi-san to even meet Sai? Let alone ask her to marry him. And I have to get Sai's family to agree too… It's just so hopeless.' She shook her head. 'No! I will not resign just yet, I have to try this! For Sai! For me! For the go world! The alternative is just too sad…'

"Think, Hikaru, think! There must be a way to do this!" she told herself firmly, ignoring the looks shot her way by the people in the street.

If anyone wondered about the girl who spent an hour sitting on a wall, staring straight forward they didn't ask and therefore would never find out the plan said girl thought out.

--

"Hello, this is Shindou Hikaru"

"Oh, it is you… what do you want?"

"Susumu-san? Ano, I want to talk to Sai-chan."

"Tough luck." A click was heard, followed by beeping sounds.

"What?! Ah! I can't believe he hung up on me! Argh! Stupid moron!"

--

"Hello, this is Shindou Hikaru"

"Hikaru! It has been a while since we talked, hasn't it!"

Unseen by each other, smiles started forming on the faces of both young women.

"Yes it has! I tried calling you earlier but your stupid brother hung up on me."

"Don't call him stupid, Hikaru."

"But he is."

"Hikaru…" A warning note entered Sai's voice "...he is my brother"

Hikaru swallowed the words she wanted to say, knowing Sai wouldn't want to hear them. She couldn't help thinking them though. 'I still can't understand how such a wonderful person can be related to someone so mean…' She shook her head and changed the subject.

"Anyways, I called because I was wondering if you had some time this weekend to do something together."

On the other side of the phone line Sai smiled a sad smile "Hikaru… I would love to do something together with you. But you know that my parents won't allow me to play go anymore, I know you want to but…"

"I know, Sai. But we could do something else, right?"

There was a short silence, as Sai was surprised. She had spent a lot of time with Hikaru and they had become good friends, almost like sisters. Most of their shared time was spent playing or discussing go; they both loved it so it was only natural. It was surprising to hear Hikaru suggest doing something not go related.

"I would like that." She answered eventually. "It should be something my parents approve of, however." Sai warned in advance, knowing that the active girl could come up with a lot of other things her parents would disapprove of a lot more than playing go.

"I was thinking about going to the book fair at the community centre." Hikaru answered with a big grin on her face, imagining the shock her friend would be displaying on hers.

--

Once again, Hikaru found herself standing outside the community centre, this time waiting for Isumi-san, Asumi-chan and Sai to show up, all the while mentally congratulating herself for not embarrassing herself in front of her friends again by asking only Isumi-san to accompany her. 'It would have been a very suspicious thing to do, especially so shortly after that whole 'thing' in the McDonalds. I'm _so_ glad I got Waya to clear up the whole embarrassing issue, if I had to do it myself I probably would have made a horrible mess of things.' She shuddered at the possible scenarios that popped up in her mind and shook her head to get rid of them.

'But I didn't. Waya cleared it all up with Isumi-san and I convinced him (and Asumi-chan) to meet me here for the book fair. Granted, it didn't take a lot of convincing since Isumi-san likes these sorts of things but then, that's why I chose this event! I'm so very proud of myself! Although, I still don't know if Isumi-san has a girlfriend or if Sai's parents would approve of him. But I arranged for him and Sai to be here without making people suspect anything, score one for Hikaru!'

"Good morning, Shindou-chan!" a cheerful voice called from behind her.

"Ah! Asumi-chan, Isumi-san! Good morning!" The go pro called to her two friends as they walked towards her.

Isumi-san answered her after the distance between them had shrunk a bit so that he wouldn't disturb the other people by calling out a name loudly, as his friends had done.

"Good morning, Shindou-san. It's been a long time since I've been to a book fair. Thank you for inviting me. I'm sure I'll enjoy it very much. Though I must admit I was rather surprised when you mentioned you would be going here."

Nase nodded in agreement with the other pro "Yeah, I never would have pegged you as a book-ish type. You're always so active. Though I'm glad you invited us! Is your friend here yet?"

"No, she isn't here yet. And you're both right about the fact that I don't read a lot, except manga that is. But my friend enjoys reading and I didn't have anything better to do so…"

"Hikaru!" the go pro was interrupted by the sound of her name, uttered by a very familiar voice. A large grin spread across her face as she turned to see her best friend happily making her way towards her. 'It has been to long since I last heard you call out my name so cheerfully, Sai-chan.' she thought, restraining herself from answering her friend by calling out her real name. That would have given everything away. Sure, most go professionals imagine Sai to be a wise, old man. But the players who suspect that Hikaru has a connection to the internet legend would surely put two and two together and get four. "Fujiwara-chan! I'm glad you could make it!" she answered instead.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world! You, at a book fair, you'll probably get bored out of your mind in about half an hour. Or less." The internet player answered with a teasing grin.

"Ah! You're so mean!" Hikaru answered with a hurt look, though inwardly she was happy that her friend's spirits were restored so much. It seemed that Sai really needed this little book-fair-distraction and had grasped the opportunity to temporarily banish her family's decree from her mind with both hands.

"These are my friends and fellow go pro's: Asumi-chan and Isumi-san! Guys, this is Fujiwara-chan, a very good friend of mine since before I started playing go." Hikaru purposely botched up the introductions so she could leave out Sai's first name. And, after her friends had exchanged 'nice-to-meet-you's' she quickly suggested going inside so that they wouldn't linger on it or re-introduce themselves with their entire name.

Lucky for her, her friends were used to her lack of manners and gladly went along with her. 'Yep, I've got a really good feeling about this! This is so going to work!'

"So, Fijiwara-chan, you think it'll take less than half an hour for Hikaru-chan to get bored? I bet twenty minutes, and a friend of ours, Waya-kun bet on fifteen. Want to clarify your guess?"

"Asumi-chan! I heard that, you know!"

"Hmm… yes, I know."

Hikaru gave a hurt look to the two chuckling females and gave Isumi-san a suspicious look when she saw what could have been the beginning of a smile cross his face, before he erased it when he saw her look at him. "Do you want to go look at the books now, Shindou-san?" he asked instead.

The young match-maker just sighed in resignation and nodded. 'This better be worth it.' was her last thought before entering the world of books.

--

**Author's note:**

I'm sorry it took so long for me to update! I just had to figure out where to take the story from there. I wasn't quite sure how to go about the whole matchmaking thing. I hope this chapter is o.k. I'm trying to get the plot moving again, since everything has been going so slowly in the last few chapters. I also re-read all my previous chapters to refresh the story in my mind and took out a couple of spelling errors.

Esa MaRie: Thank you for reviewing! You're right about the pace; I didn't really know how to go about the whole matchmaking-think so that's why the previous chapters didn't have much on plot development. I was sort of stalling, I guess. Thanks for pointing it out, that's why this chapter took so long to come out. Now that I noticed the whole 'stalling' bit I didn't want another chapter in which the plot just stands still. But after those 'slow' chapters I didn't want to rush things either… I hope this turned out ok?

Silver-White-Tiger: Sorry it took me so long to update! I've been pretty busy lately, and I didn't really know how to continue the story either. I hope you like it! Ogata-san was a bit… erm… scary in the hospital. lol. But I think he just wanted to play Sai really really badly. I don't really have a lot of matchmaking ideas. I'm hopeless at it! Luckily, 'my' Hikaru is too. The only thing I can come up with is putting the people you want to get together… well… together… lol. - Honestly, any ideas on that count are welcome. I can't guarantee I will use them but at the very least they might get my own creative juices running. For lack of better terms…

ennui deMorte: _grins_ My thoughts exactly! Sorry for the long wait.

SeikaDragon: Thank you for reviewing! As for why Sai and Hikaru are keeping Sai's identity a secret. I'm planning to make it a bit clearer in the next chapter or so. You're right that Sai's family is the main part of it.

NeoGene: Lol, Isumi _is_ the logical choice for Hikaru to start with (there will be a couple of other attempts, starring other 'victims' _wink_). But anyways, she sees him as an older brother, sort of, and he's always been really kind to her so… Sorry it took so long! I'll be a lot faster with the next update, promise! -

Pure Shikon: I made Sai a bit younger in this story, she's 22 as for the other characters, I used 'hikaru no go world' on the internet to establish there ages. Isumi is 20 in this story. I've already decided on two other probable match-make victims. But I'm not giving them away yet! -

Serilia: Thank you for your review! lol, as if Hikaru would ever go for something _that_ obvious - besides, this way is a lot more fun!

limes-eye: I'm glad you're enjoying the story! And that my grammar is acceptable too! (I did notice a couple of spelling errors when I re-read my story but I fixed anything I could find. If you notice any mistakes, please let me know!) I don't have any plans to match Hikaru with anyone, but who knows what will happen… I sure don't, although I do have a bunch of ideas and future scenes written down. As for whom Sai will end up with. I'm not telling! (mostly because I'm not sure yet…)

Shinju Tenshi: Thanks for the reviews! As I already mentioned in one of my replies above, I did make Sai a bit younger in the story. She's 22 and Isumi is (or so I've read) 20 so it would have been acceptable. It's interesting to see how many people are rooting for Ogata (I know I'm one of them! But to _Hikaru_ he will the last person she would ever set her up with. Oh no, I said to much! lol. - As for pairing Hikaru… I don't have any plans concerning that… though _if_ I pair her, I'll probably go for Akira.


	8. Chapter 7

**The Tower**

**--**

**Chapter ****7**

**--**

'Eugh… I'm so bored' Hikaru thought while staring sleepily in front of her. 'Oh look a table, and it's filled with… books! Isn't it marvellous! And look! Another table with books on it! And over there, more books! And now I'm being sarcastic to myself inside my own head…hmm… I'm most definitely going insane. It's the only possible explanation for me coming up with a plan this… boring…'

"Hikaru! Look! I found 'the tale of Genji' I wanted to have that book, but I never did get around to buying it… though I already read it in school."

"That's great, Sai." Hikaru replied with a bored tone, not bothering to use her friend's last name, as neither of the other go players were nearby.

Her enthusiastic friend didn't let the go pro's tone of voice withhold her from nodding happily and telling the bored girl about the other books she found.

"Oh! And look at this!"

Hikaru gazed apathetically at the blue book in Sai's hands; after staring at it for at least ten seconds she blinked and looked at her friend. "It's a book about airplanes." She flatly informed Sai.

"I know!" came the enthusiastic reply "I always wondered how they stayed up in the air!"

Hikaru stared at her go-teacher with a mixture of horror, disbelief and awe. 'Sometimes I really wonder about her sanity. Especially when her attitude changes from a grave, mysterious go player to that of a six year old.'

"Where are Isumi-san and Asumi-chan?" She asked, abruptly changing the subject.

Sai thought for a minute before answering "I thought I saw them over there" she said, vaguely gesturing with her arm "near the manga tables"

At that Hikaru snapped out of her book induced daze. "They have manga here?!"

--

"Hikaru-chan! I was wondering when you would find out that they have manga here." Asumi informed the blond-banged girl as she walked over to the manga tables.

Said girl turned to her so-called friend with a scowl; "I can't believe you didn't tell me about that!"

Asumi merely grinned innocently and changed the subject "What do you think about these?" She asked, holding up a couple of brightly coloured volumes "Do you think Waya will like them?"

Hikaru ignored the question and asked one of her own, filled with confusion. "Why would you buy Waya manga?"

"Because he enjoys it?" Was the sarcastic reply.

Hikaru just kept on looking confused. "I didn't know you liked him." She said in a doubtful tone, because Asumi never acted interested in their loud-mouthed friend. Her confusion grew even more when the older girl didn't blush at the statement but instead shook her head in amusement. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"Forgot what?"

Finally Asumi showed the clueless girl some mercy and informed her that Waya's birthday was next week.

"Aaah!" Hikaru yelled, not paying any attention to the other people at the book fair who shot her annoyed looks. "I can't believe I forgot!"

--

"Bye, Hikaru-chan! See you later! It was nice meeting you, Fujiwara-san!" Asumi-chan informed her book-fair-companions with a large smile. "I had loads of fun!"

Isumi nodded in agreement "Thank you for inviting me, Shindou-san, it was fun doing something other than go for a change and I really do enjoy book fairs."

Hikaru looked down at the plastic bags Isumi was holding. "Yeah, I can see that, Isumi-san."

Isumi just smiled at his friend, nodded his goodbye to Sai and left with Nase, while Sai waved happily at their backs.

'That didn't go exactly as planned.' Hikaru thought as she gazed at her retreating friends. 'It was fun, sure… at least after I found out there was manga… and a sandwich corner. But I don't think my matchmaking scheme had any effect. How the hell am I supposed to set them up together if they don't show any interest in each other?'

"Your friends are nice, Hikaru! And I had a lot of fun today!" The young woman grinned at her friend, breaking the girl's trail of thought.

'Something good did come out of this, though. It's the first time I've seen Sai this happy after finding out about her parents' plans.' "I'm glad you enjoyed it, Sai." She replied with a warm smile and found her hart skip a beat at the beaming smile she got in return. 'Even if nothing else came out of this, it was definitely worth it!' she told herself in the privacy of her own head, and, though no-one else could hear, she meant it wholeheartedly.

--

**Author's note:**

I apologize for the extreme shortness of this chapter. At first I planned to skip the book fair and just have Hikaru reflect upon it, but couldn't resist writing it anyway. I want to start a new chapter after the book fair so I just decided to leave it here for now.

I know that Waya's birthday is August 12th (because I could find that on the internet) But I haven't got a clue about when the Hokoto cup took place and whether or not the ages of the other characters make sense if I let Waya's birthday take place now (because it's possible that one of them should have had their birthday before him.) I hope it doesn't bother anyone if the timeline is only partly correct.

Shingo the Pest: Thanks for your review! Yeah, that would be funny… and very Hikaru-like to be oblivious to it but that would complicate things even more for me… I just wanted to write a tiny story to get the idea out of my head but it keeps growing… aaahh! It's alive! lol

Eadha Ohn: Well, the main characters of Hikaru no Go are all male, it's so not fair! So there you go…- _grins_ – And yet, you said it anyways! lol. Another Ogata supporter!

Pure Shikon: That would be telling! If you really want to know that badly you'll just have to wait and see… (please don't attack me!) Heh… that rhymes… lol

Faia Sakura: Thanks! Hope you enjoyed this chapter too.

limes-eye: Hmm… about the whole servant thing… I must admit it didn't occur to me. I'm not sure if I'll change it, something to think about, for sure. Do the Touya's have servants? I know they don't have any in the anime but I never read the manga.

In this story Saeki sort of has a girlfriend… (though their relationship probably won't last much longer) And anyways, _Hikaru _is seriously considering Isumi… but I'm not. - _grins_-

Thanks for pointing out the errors! When I'm typing a story some spelling errors are bound to creep in. But finding a beta is way too much for a story like this so… I'm also too impatient to leave the chapter be for a while and reread it later. I just reread it immediately after I finish it and post it and then notice the errors when I'm rereading it again online before starting the next chapter. Then I correct it and replace it. But that's probably very annoying for people with story alerts.

NeoGene: You were right about her being bored! lol. It was her own idea! I had mercy on her and gave her some manga to occupy herself with. I'm glad you like my story! Thanks for reviewing.

Shinju Tenshi: - _grins_ – I wouldn't call her 'clever', more like stubborn! lol. Thanks for the review!


	9. Chapter 8

**The Tower**

**--**

**Chapter ****8**

**--**

Hikaru entered her room, dumping the manga she had bought at the book fair on the floor before throwing herself on the bed.

'Why didn't my plan work? I thought matchmaking was just getting the two people you want involved with each other at the same place at the same time.' Hikaru thought to herself. 'Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to make the meeting place a book fair; everybody just wandered off on their own and even though we ran into each other a couple of times there weren't a lot of opportunities for Sai and Isumi-san to get to know each other.'

The go pro nodded to herself; 'Yeah that's it, I just need to get them together in better circumstances and then perhaps leave them alone together for a moment.'

--

After a long night of thinking and plotting, a bleary-eyed Hikaru found herself at the Go Association cursing the fact that she had to come there so early on a Monday morning.

"Shindou." A polite voice called out behind her. "Good afternoon."

After her sleep-muddled brain had processed both the words and voice of that statement, the girl murmured; "…Touya?" before slowly turning around and meeting the eyes of her rival.

"You look tired, Shindou. Are you alright?"

"Gh… m fine…" She uttered 'I'm so not in the mood for yelling and fighting right now' Hikaru thought to herself while yawning. 'It's best to leave before we get to that stage.' She turned back to the building and entered, leaving the other go pro behind. 'I've got more important things than Touya to worry about right now. I will not give up on you… Sai-chan.'

**--**

"Oi, Shindou! We're going to go to the sushi place for lunch. Are you coming with us?"

Hikaru looked up at Waya, who was standing with Saeki-sempai and Isumi-san. "Sure." She nodded and walked over to the other go pro's.

"So are things working out now, between you and your girlfriend, Saeki-san?" Hikaru asked her sempai, thinking back on the conversation with Waya that she had overheard.

The grimace on his face was enough of an answer for Hikaru and she winced. 'Me and my curiosity. Or absolute lack of tact as Sai calls it.'

None the less, her colleague answered. "She keeps nagging me about the amount of time I spend on go. It's getting really annoying. I like doing stuff with her too, but I just don't always have the time… Why can't she just understand that?" Saeki-san answered with a despairing sigh. "How about your girlfriend, Isumi-san? Isn't she annoyed with the amount of time you spend on go?"

'Girlfriend?!' Hikaru barely managed to restrain herself from yelling the word out loud. But couldn't stop herself from turning to a slightly blushing Isumi-san and staring at him in disbelief she hardly even heard his reply about this 'Hitomi' being very understanding. 'Isumi-san has a girlfriend and I never knew.' Of course that wasn't entirely surprising considering how private a person her quiet friend was. 'But still! He can't have a girlfriend, not now! I have to set him up with Sai! No! This can't be true!'

The rest of her lunch break passed in a blur, she remembered little of the conversation, not even her own automatic replies. After her game was over and she had dragged herself back home she was finally somewhat capable of reasonable thought again. 'Ok. It's ok. This isn't a disaster. So Isumi-kun has a girlfriend. That's ok. It is. I guess Waya knew, because he didn't loudly yell out in surprise. But it's ok.' Hikaru strove off the panic that threatened her mind. 'It's ok. There are other go players, I'll set Sai up with someone else, and I'll do it soon. There is still time, Sai hasn't mentioned that her husband has been chosen. It's ok.' The distraught go player kept telling herself over and over again.

--

Hikaru was sitting in her room, despondently staring outside the window when her cell phone startled her back to the land of the living. "Hello?"

"Shindou! Where are you?"

"Waya? What is it?"

"You forgot?"

"I thought your birthday was on Friday?" the confused girl answered, thinking about another thing she had forgotten until Asumi-chan reminded her.

A sigh sounded in her ear; "You were supposed to come over to my apartment, remember? We would play a game and I would give you the kifu that I have of Ashiwara's games. Honestly, Shindou how could you forget about that? You're playing against him this week, aren't you worried about that? He's quite a good go player you know. I started studying his games more than a week before the match. But you said today would be early enough."

"Ah! The match against Ashiwara-san. I did forget about that. I'm sorry Waya!"

"What!! I thought you just forgot about the kifu, you can't honestly tell me you forgot that you're playing against him! You shouldn't underestimate him like that, Shindou! He's a 4-dan after all, and you're just a 2-dan."

'Oh no, now Waya is angry with me for underestimating the lower dans, he hates it that I pay so much attention to Touya and other high dans. It doesn't help that he lost to Ashiwara-san himself. Now I'll get another lecture about how I set my goals too high and don't pay any attention to those beneath it. And how I'm way too overconfident. Eugh.'

"Shindou? Are you still there?"

"Yes, I am. Sorry I'm just a bit… distracted."

Instead of the angry lecture that Hikaru expected her friend sighed "It isn't like you to forget about a match, Shindou. Not even if it is against a shodan, let alone against a member of Touya-sensei's study group. What's wrong?"

"Eh?" 'But… but… this is Waya? How would he know?' "Nothing, I'm fine, Waya."

"Shindou… Don't lie to me. I was there when you nearly fainted in the lobby, remember. And yesterday, you looked like a walking zombie." He didn't even sound annoyed, just… 'concerned? Waya is worried about me? But… he's Waya! Not Isumi-san or even Asumi-chan. This is Waya, and he noticed and… he's worried about me?'

"Waya. I'm sorry." Was all she could think to say, after which she quickly hung up.

'Waya. I forgot about meeting him and about the match, and I lied to him. He wasn't even angry though, just worried. He'll probably be angry now, though. I can't believe I hung up on him like that! I just… What was I supposed to tell him? How could I tell him about Sai? I've been keeping this from him for so long. Sai is his greatest idol and he knows that I know that. He'd be so hurt if he knew… If he knew that I've know Sai all along. I could have set up a game between them, I could have introduced them. I could have told him the truth.'

'But then… Waya would never have kept it a secret… would he have? Before today I would have said no, but now? He's more than just an oblivious, loudmouthed boy. He's my friend, and he did notice and… he's worried about me. Maybe I should have trusted in him. Maybe…'

"Ring… Ring…" Hikaru jolted and looked at the phone she was still holding in her hand. 'That's probably Waya again… I… I really screwed up, didn't I? But Sai and I decided to keep her identity a secret. She doesn't want to make her brother anymore jealous than he already is. Stupid Susumu! I really hate that guy. I don't understand why Sai tries so hard to make him accept her as his sister. Why would she want someone like him to like her anyways? He sucks! We should just let everyone know! Then perhaps her parents won't force her to marry anymore, and I can tell Waya the truth and… and… Sai's brother will hate her… She wants her brother to love her so badly… Poor Sai… I can't ruin it for her…'

The anger she had worked up while thinking about Susumu left just as quickly as it came, and the young girl was left with an infinite amount of sadness as she stared at the still ringing phone in her hand. 'I'm sorry, Waya.'

--

**Author's note:**

Hi everyone! It's been a while, hasn't it? I've been busy finishing all my school assignments and surviving my exams. Now it's summer holidays for me though! Yay!

Gosh, where is my story going? I haven't got a clue but Hikaru's turning in some sort of emotional rollercoaster. Gee. Maybe I'm overdoing it. Hehe… Ah well… I might revise the whole story once it's done, but for now I'm just going with the flow. Lol

A Bibliophile: Thank you for your reviews! Your imagination is a bit more erm…imaginative? than mine. lol

NeoGene: It took me quite a while, but look! A new chapter! I hope you like it, 'cause I'm not to sure about it myself it's a bit… ahm… depressing? Which is strange because the beautiful weather is making me cheerful. Ah well.

Faia Sakura: I'm just going wherever the fanfic takes me, but as you can see, Isumi isn't it. I don't know if Sai will actually end up with anyone but I'm a bit partial to Ogata myself. I can't see it happening in the fanfic as it is though.. but… who knows?

Pure Shikon: I thought about Seaki but am not seriously considering him. (at least not yet) as I already mentioned in the review above this one I'm still not quite sure how the fic will end but I do like Ogata…


	10. Chapter 9

**The Tower**

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**Chapter ****9**

**--**

If someone was observing the sidewalk leading to the Japanese Go Association, that person would have seen a girl making her way towards the building. If that person had made a habit out of watching the people on this sidewalk he would have known that the young woman walked there quite regularly. Even so he would have had a hard time recognizing this girl as the cheerful, loudmouthed one who usually walked there. Instead of a skipping, whistling teenager, actively swinging her bag and looking around smiling at everything and everyone there was a sad, world-weary girl, lonely even in the Tuesday morning crowd.

With a heavy heart Hikaru entered the lobby, not looking around for her friends as she usually did, but instead robotically making her way to where her game would be played.

Though there had been no one observing the sidewalk there were three pairs of eyes marking Hikaru's progress across the room.

--

"Something's up with her."

Isumi took his eyes from Hikaru's exit point and looked at his best friend. "I know."

Said friend shook his head at the unhelpful reply; "And do you know what this something is?"

A thoughtful look appeared on Isumi's face at this question, and just as Waya felt a spark of hope that the older pro might be able to be of help he answered. "No."

At this Waya threw his hands up in the air in frustration: "We've gotta do something, Isumi! Something's really wrong! I've never seen Shindou acting so strange."

"It wouldn't be right to meddle in someone else's business, Waya. If Shindou-san needs our help she will ask for it."

Waya shook his head once more, and loudly rebutted; "She hung up on me, Isumi! And when I called her again she just ignored it. And before that when I asked her what was wrong and to stop lying by saying it was nothing all she said was that she was sorry! She practically admitted something was wrong, Isumi. And it is! She's our friend! She can't keep something that's bothering her this much from us!"

Isumi held up his hands, trying to calm his friend. "It could be a personal matter, Waya. Something to do with her family, for example. Some people just prefer to keep to themselves about matters like that."

"Not Shindou, Isumi. She's not that private, and you know it." Waya sighed "Something's up with her."

A glance at the clock ended the conversation as the two go players made their way across the room just as the subject of their musings had done previously.

While the two friends left the lobby, another person nodded in agreement with the now absent go professionals; "Yes." He muttered, while lighting a new cigarette. "Something is definitely up with her."

--

Hikaru sat down at an empty table with a bowl of beef ramen. She had fled the Go Institute as soon as possible when the lunch bell rang so that she would be able to avoid her friends. 'I'm just not in the mood for company right now.' The girl had thought, not even registering how strange that thought was for her.

"What do I do now?" She uttered.

"You might wanna eat your ramen before it gets cold." A voice teasingly replied, causing the girl to look up in shock. "Waya!"

Her friend nodded and sat down on one of the empty chairs.

"Waya…I…." Hikaru ran her mind over a hundred things she might say, but none of them seemed right, in the end she once again settled on "I'm sorry."

"Aren't you gonna tell me what the hell is going on?" The fierce words were usual for her red-headed friend, but his tone was not.

"Are you angry?" She asked, unnerved by the calmness in his voice.

Waya moved his hand through his hair; "I'm just… frustrated. I don't understand, Shindou. Why won't you talk about whatever the hell it is that's going on?"

"Nothing's going on, Waya." The denial flew from her lips before she even thought about it. 'When did I become such a liar?' Hikaru absently asked herself.

But unlike Isumi, Waya would not let it rest at that. "You can't hang up on me now, Shindou. Even if I don't know what is going on, it is clear enough that it's something. Something that bothers you a great deal."

Hikaru felt as if she was talking to a stranger, this calm Waya seemed so unlike the friend she knows. "It's nothing, Waya. It'll be fine." She insisted once more, hoping that he'd just let it go.

"Shindou! Stop denying and tell me already! Even if you won't tell me _what_ is going on, you can at least tell me that something _is_!"

'Ah. There is the hot-headed guy I know.' "Fine, I give up!" Hikaru answered dramatically, relieved to have her friend acting like himself again. "Something is bothering me, ok. You win!"

Waya grinned, also relieved to have _his _friend acting more like herself again. "Ha! I knew it would be me who would achieve the impossible and make the stubborn, unbeatable Shindou Hikaru finally give up!" He threw back, just as dramatic.

No more words, calm or angry, were spent on Hikaru's troubles. Instead the two friends cheerfully talked and teased until the troubled girl was not so troubled anymore.

--

When Hikaru walked home that midday, she looked a lot more like the cheerful girl that could usually be observed on this particular sidewalk. 'Waya may not have meant what he said, but he's still right: I'm not one to give up! If I can't set Sai up with Isumi-san, I will set her up with someone else. I won't let her go die!'

After that determined thought the go professional turned her admirable mind to the question at hand. 'So who to set her up with? I chose Isumi-san because he's a friend of mine, I know he's kind and considerate. If I can't set her up with him, than with who…?'

Hikaru had reached her house and made her way inside and upstairs while still going over the question in her mind.

'Any go player would be better than those men her family makes her meet with. But still, this is Sai; my mentor and friend. She deserves someone better than just a guy who would allow her to play go. She deserves someone kind and understanding. I can't set her up with just anyone. It has to be someone who would respect her skills in go and who would be able to understand her. Someone who would accept both the polite, serious go player side of her, but also the childish, enthusiastic side of her. So. Who?'

The teenager drummed her hands on her bureau while thinking it over. 'It can't be that hard to find a kind, accepting person in the go world.' She sighed and shook her head, her eye falling on the papers she had just laid down on the desk. 'Ashiwara-san's games that Waya gave me.' The girl sighed once more and decided to take her mind of the issue. 'I'm getting nowhere thinking about it now, I might as well start going over these games, I need to be prepared for Thursday after all.' "But don't worry, Sai. Shindou Hikaru doesn't give up!'

--

**Author's note:**

Gah, My temporary summer job took even more time then school usually does. I'm done now though, so here's the new chapter! Hope you enjoyed it. I've given up on making Hikaru more emotionally stable; she's an upset teenage girl and for some mysterious reason I write her as an emotional rollercoaster. Perhaps when I'm done with the whole story I'll rewrite it so that she's not so… erm… yeah… moodswingy?

--

A Bibliophile: Lemonade-seahorses? Lol. What I wouldn't give for a couple of those! grins

NeoGene: Hikaru is rather emotional! But I can't help writing her like that. I'm overdoing it, aren't I? Ah, well… I'll finish my story first and then I'll see if there's anything I want to change and take out the spelling errors and such.

Shinju Tenshi: I hope Sai will find a nice go-loving boyfriend too! She totally deserves it. My update took a while, but here it is!

Pure Shikon: I'm dying to know how my story ends up too! I've got no idea where I'm going with this. Well… A vague idea perhaps, and a few future scenes written down, but still!

Shingo the Pest: Yay for Waya! I never even knew I liked him but apparently I do, because he keeps popping up in my story!

Lynixe: Thanks for reviewing!


	11. Chapter 10

**The Tower**

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**Chapter 10**

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When Hikaru made her way to the Go Institute on Thursday she felt more than prepared for the match with Ashiwara-san. 'But I haven't done anything that could help Sai yet. I haven't got a clue who to try and set her up with next.' The girl thought as she entered the building.

"What has gotten you distracted now, Shindou?" Waya called out after she had spent two minutes standing quietly in the lobby without even noticing him.

"Ah! Good morning, Waya!"

Her friend raised an eyebrow, quietly urging her to answer his question. Knowing Waya, his urging wouldn't stay quiet for long if she didn't answer him quickly enough. Hikaru didn't want Waya to worry about her again, so she decided to go with the truth instead of saying it was nothing. "Just thinking about go players"

A partial truth, that is.

"Well, I hope for you that Ashiwara-san is one of them. I'm telling you, Shindou, you should really focus on your match right now. He might not be on Touya's level but he's still not someone to underestimate."

'Ashiwara-san…' "Thanks, Waya!" Hikaru said, before going to the match room early, leaving the red-head standing there, scratching his head in confusion. "You're welcome?"

--

'Ashiwara-san… hmm… that might actually work. I once overheard a mention of him in a conversation, what did they say again? Something about how many players play because they want to improve, because they want to climb up and reach a higher stage in their go. But they said that Ashiwara didn't really strive for something like that, he just enjoys every game, even against players way out of his league, in both directions.'

The go pro nodded to herself. 'Sai is like that too. She loves go. Sure, she enjoys games more if they are against players who are of a higher level, or against those who use original or daring moves but she finds happiness in every game she plays.'

The professionals already in the match-room looked up in surprise as they saw the girl who was nearly always the last to enter take her seat as one of the first.

--

Unlike many other go players, Hikaru was never very good at hiding her emotions. So when Ashiwara put his stone just where she wanted him to put it a small smile spread across her face. 'He thinks he'll be able to save his stones this way, but he hasn't read far enough ahead. I don't have to cut them here, I'll be able to kill the whole cluster in the end if I just move right… there!' Hikaru thought while putting down her white stone.

Ashiwara, at this moment still oblivious to his opponent's plan, played a tenuki. When he looked up at the teenager across from him, he was too late to notice the smile that had spread across her face moments before. Instead he received a scrutinizing look that immediately made him uncomfortable. He looked down at the board again and saw nothing that warrants a look like that.

Another white stone appeared on the goban and the 4-dan considered how best to defend himself from this attack. Just before making his move he looked up at the girl once more and found himself being measured by her eyes. Awkwardly, he put down his stone on the premeditated intersection. At that moment the bell rang for lunch and he exhaled with relief. 'This is going to be a long game.'

--

"Hi Waya, Saeki-san!" Hikaru happily called out. "Where do you guys want to go for lunch?"

"Shindou. We could go to the MacDonalds?" Waya proposed, to which the other two nodded their agreement.

"How is your game going, Waya?" Saeki asked while they put on their shoes.

The lively teenager shrugged his shoulders "It's going fine, my opponent isn't that powerful." was his answer. He looked at Hikaru with curiosity. "How about your game, Shindou?"

"Well, I'm a little bit behind in territory but I'll be able to make up for that soon. My position on the board is more powerful than his, also, he walked into a trap of mine that I will be able to spring later on." The girl explained.

Waya looked up in surprise, he had known his friend was a good player but he expected that a game between her and the 4-dan would be more evenly matched. Hikaru made it sound like she was sure of victory already, and it was only lunch break. "So you're not distracted anymore, than?" He asked, knowing that had she been distracted during a game against an opponent like this she would never have been able to be on the winning side.

The go pro indignantly shook her head; "I'd never let myself be distracted during a go match, Waya!" She said before adding more thoughtfully "If anything, it is Ashiwara-san who appears to be the distracted one."

"You're playing Ashiwara-san?" Saeki asked, mingling in the conversation. "But I've never seen him, or heard of him, being distracted during a match. Their sempai added, while thinking back to the many games he'd played against his 'rival'.

"Well, he certainly seemed very distracted and uncomfortable during this match. I wonder what's bothering him." Hikaru said thoughtfully, before the look on her face instantly changed into a huge grin when they reached the MacDonalds. "Time for lunch!" She said cheerfully, breaking everyone out of their thoughtful state.

--

Hikaru left the match room behind after having marked her win. Her thoughts were not on the game she had just finished, but on the opponent she had defeated. 'I've only seen Ashiwara-san in person a couple of times, but he always seemed to be a friendly person. And although he seemed a bit distracted and awkward today I still think he would be a good person for Sai. I'm sure he would be able to accept her as she is, instead of wanting her to give up a side of herself like those suitors.' The young go player nodded happily to herself, glad to have found a suitable match for her friend and mentor.

"Shindou!" A voice called out behind her.

The girl swirled around in surprise and found herself facing her rival. "Touya! Gee, stop sneaking up on me! I mean it! It's not funny!"

The famous go player sighed tiredly "I did not sneak up on you, Shindou." He told her, as he had told her many times before.

"You did too sneak up on me!" The childish teenager replied.

Touya just shook his head at her, refusing to let their conversation degrade into such a childish argument "Why weren't you at the go salon Tuesday?" he asked instead, slightly annoyed at the fact that she hadn't shown up at all.

The girl blinked; "Tuesday…?" 'Ah, right! I was worrying about my plan to save Sai and then I distracted myself from that by going over Ashiwara-san's games.' She thought to herself before answering; "Ah. I guess I forgot."

At this the other go professional lost his polite air "You forgot? Shindou! We have been meeting at the go salon every other week ever since our fourth game. And it has always been on a Tuesday! How could you forget?"

'He doesn't have to shout! What is he so angry about? Besides, it was not like I just forgot about, I was just pretty out of it last Tuesday. I was hardly aware which day it was!' Hikaru thought to herself. "I just forgot, ok! I was busy!"

"_You_ were _busy_? Doing what? You're only a 2-dan, you're not in any of the major leagues yet and there weren't any go events. You had nearly the _entire_ afternoon off!"

"I said I forgot! Unlike some people I know, I do have other things to worry about than just go!" Hikaru grabbed her shoes and put them on. "Good day!" Was her parting shot as she angrily left the building. 'Stupid Touya!'

--

"I'm home!" Hikaru called out cheerfully, having already calmed down from her encounter with her rival. 'For some reason, Touya always makes me so angry.' She thought, shaking her head at the typical 'discussion' they just had.

"Welcome home!" her mother answered, "Do you want something to eat?"

The girl shook her head; "I'm fine, mom. I'll just head upstairs and go over some kifu." Hikaru was already halfway up the stairs when the phone rang. She had reached the top floor when her mom called her down again, saying that it was for her.

"Hello, this is Shindou Hikaru." The girl answered the phone politely, thinking she would be speaking to someone from the Go Association.

"Hi, Hikaru-chan. It's Asumi."

"Ah. What's up, Asumi-chan?"

"I just called to make sure you haven't forgotten that Waya's birthday is tomorrow evening."

The forgetful girl slapped herself on the head. "I can't believe I forgot!" She exlaimed, slightly embarrassed.

"_I_ can." Her friend teasingly replied.

"It's not funny, Asumi-chan! I still have to get him a present! What should I get him? Food? Manga? A go book? I really don't know."

"I've already bought manga for him so buying him manga too would be a bit much. Besides, aren't you closer to him than I am? If it were anyone else but you I would say that you could come up with something better than that. As it is however…"

"Asumi-chan!" Hikaru indignantly exlaimed. Before admitting her failure by asking her friend for advice. "Can you think of something? You're a lot better at this than I am."

The other girl sighed. "I don't know Waya as well as you do, Hikaru-chan. I usually choose something personal as a gift, something I know that person will enjoy. Food is just so general, and because we are all go players, a book about go is pretty unimaginative too. Gifts like that don't really mean anything. I chose Manga because it is something outside of his go career, to let him know I also know another side of him."

Hikaru looked at the phone with her mouth open; "You really put that much thought in a gift?" She asked, flabbergasted. "But, but… I don't know another side of him! I know he enjoys playing go on the computer, which is also go-related…"

"you don't say." Was the sarcastic interruption.

Ignoring her friend's comment, the panicked girl went on; "…And I know that he likes sushi and the MacDonalds, which are food related. I don't know anything else!"

A few nearly indistinguishable words came through from the other side of the phone. "That's my mum calling. I'm sorry, Hikaru-chan, I have to go! I'm sure you'll think of something."

"What?! But, wait! Asumi-chan!" Hikaru looked at the phone in despair after her friend had hung up. For the first time since she heard about Sai's predicament Hikaru found herself faced with a different dilemma than her mentor's marital status. 'What should I get Waya for his birthday?' the girl asked herself, stumped.

--

Hikaru stood downstairs with the phone in her hand, looking between the front door and the stairs. 'Should I go out shopping and just hope that I see something that would make a good gift, or should I think about what I want to get him first?' The images that popped up in her head when thinking of the first option were enough to make her decide on the second. 'I still have the whole day tomorrow to buy something.' She told herself as she finally reached her room.

--

**Author's note:**

Yay! I finally managed to get my chapter a bit longer! And a fast update too! Aren't you guys proud of me?!

SeikaDragon: On the other hand, When Hikaru manages to set Sai up with someone, this story will probably be finished. Or maybe not, who knows? Lol. Thanks for the review!

Pure Shikon: Thank you for the compliment and review! Yeah, girls are more emotional, especially teenage ones! How you explain Hikaru's emotional state makes me feel much better about how I wrote her! I like Waya and Ogata, they keep popping up in my story!

Bxbyaoifan: I like the parings you mentioned, but I'm just going with the flow of the story. We'll have to wait and see how it ends up. For now, though Hikaru has her sights set on Ashiwara. Lol.


	12. Chapter 11

**The Tower**

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**Chapter 11**

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Hikaru wrenched herself from her dream with a small gasp. It took her a moment to realise that she was lying in her bed at home. 'A dream.' She told herself, before shaking her head 'And a weird one at that. I blame Asumi-chan for all that talk about personal gifts and stuff.'

She glanced at her alarm clock and groaned. 'I'm much too awake to be able to get to sleep again. And that on day that I'm free.'

For once the teenager found herself dressed before 9 o 'clock on a day off. "Hikaru, are you alright?" her mom asked her when she entered the kitchen.

"I'm fine mom, just a weird dream." She answered as she gathered her own breakfast.

Hikaru's mother sat down with her at the table; "Really? What was it about?" she asked

The girl looked up from her food to see her mom looking at her in concern. "Eh? Nothing bad! It's just that Waya's birthday is tonight and Asumi-chan talked about what sort of gift to get him and I dreamt I searched everywhere for a good gift, but couldn't find anything and I was really upset because Waya had been so kind to me lately. Asumi-chan told me to give him something personal that's not go-related but in the end I gave him… eh…something that's _personal_ and go-related and he was really happy." Hikaru shook her head. "It was just a weird dream mum, that's all." She said before finishing her breakfast.

The go pro put her plate on the counter and went to put her shoes on. "I'm going now! Bye mum."

"Going where, Hikaru-chan?" Her mom asked in confusion, since it was her daughters day off.

The girl turned around and looked at her mom as if she was stupid "To buy Waya a gift of course! Bye!"

--

'Ah! I'm never going to find something! Why is it so hard to find a good gift?' Hikaru thought, as she tiredly made her way past an ice cream parlor. She glanced at it and moved back. 'If anything can improve the chances of a brilliant idea suddenly appearing in my thoughts, it's ice cream!' She thought happily.

The teenager sat down with her ice cream and watched the people walk past her, after a few minutes her burst of optimism died a gruesome death. 'Maybe I should just buy some food or a book on go or whatever, it's still better than nothing and I really can't come up with anything better.' That thought was immediately followed with a flashback of her conversations with Waya the past week or so. 'Even though he doesn't know it, he really helped me out with my whole 'Sai-dilemma', if nothing else he cheered me up.' She immediately felt the familiar guilt that had been gnawing at her consciousness more and more often lately. 'I can't tell him about Sai!' She told herself firmly as she finished her ice cream.

The girl stood up again, and waded into the crowd she had been watching only moments before. Shaking off the image of Sai with a bow that had been left in her mind by her dream.

--

After an other hour of fruitlessly searching through shops an idea suddenly impacted in Hikaru's brain. 'That's stupid! Even Waya wouldn't fall for whichever lame excuse I give him.'

Even so, the girl reluctantly made her way home again. 'The party doesn't start until eight. That should leave me enough time, right?'

When she was once again in the safety of her room she groaned to herself 'This is an even worse idea than the whole matchmaking thing!' Hikaru thought 'Gah! It's all Waya's fault for having been so kind and concerned lately. And the fault of my guilty conscience!'

The go professional looked at the clock and burst out in a flurry of activity. 'I've made my decision, no going back now.' "Yosh! Let's do this!" She encouraged herself.

**--**

At five minutes to eight Hikaru quickly shoved her swiftly wrapped present in a bag and tore out of the mess that she usually called her room. "I'm going!" She yelled out to her mum while putting on her shoes and she was out of the door before her mother even had a chance to reply.

Fifteen minutes later found her nervously standing outside the front door of the building in which Waya's apartement could be found.

'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea… But as long as I don't tell him who, it should be ok, right?'

"Shindo-san?"

"Waah!" The girl exlaimed as she turned around to face Isumi-san. 'Why do people always sneak up on me?' she wondered before an other thought crossed her mind. "But I'm late! You're never late, Isumi-san!"

"I had an earlier appointment, Waya already knew I would be coming a bit later." Was the logical answer "Aren't you going in, Shindo-san?"

Hikaru gave her friend a slightly nervous smile "Yeah, sure! Let's go."

--

"Isumi-san! And Shindou-chan!" Nase greeted when she opened the door. "It's such a rare sight to see you two arrive at the same time." she continued in amusement, glancing at her watch.

"Good evening, Nase-san" was all that the polite young man said in reply, though an amused glint in his eye gave away that he did get the joke. "Where is Waya-kun?"

"He's on the phone, his aunt and uncle called to congratulate him."

Isumi nodded and made his way inside, only just hearing Shindou's reaction to the other girl's earlier remark; "I'm not _always_ late, Asumi-chan! I just happened to have been busy, that's all."

Asumi took a good look at the indignant girl in front of her; "Busy doing what exactly, Hikaru-chan? You look like you've been wrestling with a photocopier."

"It was my printer actually… wait, you can tell?"

The other girl restrained her laughter, barely, and told the dishevelled girl in front of her that there might be a few small smudges of ink… everywhere… "Why didn't you freshen up before coming?" she asked and finally burst out laughing at the reply she really should have seen coming.

"But then I would've been even later!"

--

Half an hour later, Hikaru was comfortably seated on a couch next to Asumi-chan, who she had gracefully forgiven for laughing at her. 'It probably isn't even that bad, I mean, neither Waya or Isumi-san said anything.'

"Well!" Nase happily exclaimed "Now that everyone is here… presents!" She jumped up from her seat and pushed a rectangle shaped box, perfectly wrapped in red paper and with an extravagant golden bow on the top, beneath the birthday boy's nose. "Mine first!"

Waya blinked at the colourful gift and then at the happy but impatient girl in front of him. "Thank you." He quickly said before taking the item presented to him. He glanced at Isumi and Shindou, before looking back at Nase; for a second wondering if he should try to open the present carefully. The second passed quickly, as seconds are wont to do, and Waya ripped into the pretty wrapping, tossing its remains on the ground. He looked at the gifts and thanked the girl again, before receiving his next present.

Hikaru's comfortableness had quickly changed into its opposite after Nase started with the present-giving. She looked at the bag that contained her own present for Waya, the doubt once again setting in. 'I knew this was a bad idea. I knew it! I should have just gone with food. Or a go-book. Or something.'

"Hikaru-chan?" she heard Asumi's voice call, causing her to glance up and see that Waya had already opened all of his other presents and that a birthday cake had mysteriously appeared on the table somewhere in the last heaven-knows-how-many minutes. "Ah!" Hikaru took the miserable looking package from her bag and walked over to Waya, who stared at the bluish taped presenty thing in amusement. "Thanks, Shindou" he grinned when she gave him his present, unaware of how nervous his fellow go pro was. After getting rid of the wrapping he was left with a simple green binder that was filled with papers and had the picture of an ogi-fan taped on its front. A small frown formed on his face, which turned into an expression of complete disbelief after he opened it. "Shindou, what?"

--

Hikaru nervously looked at her friend as he leaved through the binder containing_ all_ of the games Sai_ ever_ played on the internet. She was desperatly trying to remember her lame excuse when he looked up from it to her, his eyes demanding an answer to his earlier question.

"I…er… I know you, um… were interested in… those games, so I uh… gathered… what I could… find?" she hesitantly told him, smiling nervously at him, her discomfort clearly present in her stance.

She nearly died of relief when Waya didn't question her further, but instead thanked her for her gift, set the binder aside, and, after one last glance at it, provided everyone with a slice of the cake.

The evening went on as if nothing particular had happend, and after a while Hikaru managed to shake of her earlier discomfort and found herself laughing and smiling with her friends for the remainder of the party.

--

After the young go playing friends had each retired to their respective places, two of them found themselves reviewing the happenings of that evening in their minds. And whereas one of them only smiled in relief before contently retiring to her bed, the other stayed up for many hours, looking through a green binder. It was unremarkable in any way, except for the games it contained… and the person who gave it to him.

--

**Author's note:**

Ok, maybe that is a tiny bit evil. But it has been ages since I updated and I really wanted to do this tonight, since I don't know when I'll have time again. My school schedule is unbelievable this semester, and I don't mean that in a good way! Well… most of my subjects are sort of fun, but the lack of free time not so much.

I can't do mysterious or subtle for the live of me, so everybody probably already knows Waya's gift anyways. -

Gin-Ryuko: Thank you for reading and reviewing! Yep, the story is really AU. Overly emotional male Hikaru might have been even weirder than this is…

Shinju Tenshi: Hehe, chocalade is good! No need to stop eating it! Thanks for the review.

Pure Shikon: I'm always stumped when it comes to buying a birthday present. I want it to be perfect and then I can't find anything and suddenly the birthday is nearly there and find myself in the same situation as Hikaru. But without the wacky dreams. Not quite satisfied about this chapter but maybe it gets the creative juices flowing again. . That expression sounds really gross…

A Bibliophile: McDonalds really is everywhere. They have one in my hometown. There's hardly anything in my hometown but they do have a McDonalds. There are 218 McDonalds in my country but only 2 or 3 Starbucks. It's crazy. Thanks for reviewing!

--

I added a part to this chapter, because it fit better this way; now all the Waya b-day stuff is in one chapter and I can start a new one for what follows. Sorry for the inconvienience!


	13. Chapter 12

**The Tower**

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**Chapter 1****2**

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**Author's note:**

I added a part to the previous chapter, so read that one first!

--

A cheerful Hikaru said goodbye to her mother, grabbed her bag and left for the go event scheduled for that weekend. She made her way to the train station, all the while wearing the bright Hikaru-smile that had been absent from her face far too often lately.

The entire train ride was spent congratulating herself on assuaging her guilty feelings towards Waya, and on her brilliant idea of checking the website of the Japanese Go Institute to see which go professionals would be attending this go event. 'Although I haven't been invited to play shidou-go myself, I know a lot of lower dan players were asked. This go event is a rather large one, after all. It makes sense that they would have a demonstration match also.' The smile on her face widened even further. 'I'm still not sure how exactly I should handle Ashiwara-san, but I'll figure something out. After all, the whole thing with Waya turned out ok, so this will probably be fine also!' The girl happily told herself.

By the time she had made it to the hotel were the event was held, the giddy feeling of relief and optimism that had filled her since yesterday night, had just about worn off. Her determination to save Sai's go remained however, and she walked over to the reception desk without hesitation, receiving directions to where the demonstration match would be held.

--

'I'm early' was Hikaru's shocked realisation that soon changed into a wry sort of amusement wholly uncharacteristic for the happy-go-lucky girl. An amusement that disappeared entirely when she was made aware of the presence of the other person who would take part in the demonstration match.

"Shindou."

She automatically turned to the person who had said her name, immediately regretting it when she found herself staring into a pair of cold, blue eyes. "O. Ogata-sensei! Ah. Good morning."

"Good morning, Shindou." He returned calmly. "I was not aware that you were asked to attend this go event."

She answered him honestly, aware that he could and _would _find out if she lied to him about this. "I wasn't, Ogata-sensei."

"You weren't." He repeated with a casual tone of voice, all the while scrutinizing her as if he could read her motives and secrets from her stance, making the young professional even more uncomfortable. 'Waah! Why did it have to be him of all people that Ashiwara-san will play against?' She inwardly whined to whichever god willing to listen to her grievances.

"So what did bring you here then, on this fine Saturday morning, if not your duties towards the Go Institute?" He queried, his tone deliberately curious.

Hikaru at the clock on the wall and cursed the fact that the demonstration match would not start for another hour and promised herself never to be early again. 'Whoever said that being late all the time is a _bad_ habit, lied!'

"Shindou?" the 9-dan pressed, after a full minute of silence.

"Ah! Forgive me, Ogata-sensei. I was distracted." She answered, annoyed with herself for once again getting lost in thought and for not having the slightest clue how to answer his earlier question. 'Oh, you know. Just trying to get to know Ashiwara-san. Particularly whether or not he has a girlfriend.' She nearly snorted. 'Yeah, that will go over _really_ well.'

She looked the older go professional straight in the eyes and suddenly felt really fed-up. Fed-up with the secrets, lies and most especially, this man's eternal suspicion. And, without really thinking about it she answered him, her voice surprisingly calm, and her words surprisingly truthful: "I have other duties than just those towards the Go Institute, Ogata-sensei." the 2-dan told him, "I am here to fulfil duties far more important to me." And with those words she turned to do just that: to fulfil the debt she owed to her best friend for her support and friendship; to fulfil the debt she owed to her mentor for dragging her into the world of go and making her see the beauty of it; to fulfil the debt she owed to the go world for accepting her, unconventional as she was. She walked away from Ogata-sensei in search of said 9-dan's opponent; to fulfil her duty to life, by refusing to let something as beautiful as Sai's go die.

'Sai's go will live on. And my friend will find happiness.' And for once those words didn't seem like the desperate lie that she has been telling herself over and over again. At that moment they seemed the honest truth. After all, Sai is destined to play go, so her plan cannot fail, can it? Surely the gods would not allow that. Surely they would not allow Sai's go to disappear.' Her mind was filled with these confident thoughts as she searched for the person who _would_ help her save her friend. He just didn't know it yet.

Her determined eyes found Ashiwara-san deep in conversation with some people she didn't know. Normally she would have hesitated in approaching an acquaintance while he was obviously otherwise engaged. Hikaru may not be the politest person, but even she is aware that disturbing someone both older and higher ranked than herself with no apparent reason is a rude thing to do.

And, although she had not turned back since answering Ogata's question, she was aware that his piercing gaze was still directed at her.

But at that moment rudeness towards Ashiwara and fuelling Ogata's suspicion hardly seemed relevant: all that really mattered was making sure that Sai could continue to play lots and lots of go.

So Hikaru made her way to the 4-dan, not quite sure of what exactly she could or should do to fulfil that goal, but determined to so nonetheless. Through any means necessary.

--

Ashiwara looked up from his conversational partners when he noticed the 2-dan he had recently lost a game against approach him.

"Good morning, Shindou-chan" He told her cheerfully, not one to hold grudges.

She answered him politely, lacking her own customary smile; "Good morning Ashiwara-san." before continuing on; "You have a demonstration game today, right?"

His reply was a cheerful conformation. She wished him luck, and he returned his attention to another person. He had expected her to leave at that; they weren't friends, after all. Moreover, she had this look on her face that he recognized immediately from the many games and interactions he had had with Ogata, Touya-sensei and on occasion Akira: one that usually meant that they had a plan; that they were determined to do something and would not be swayed from it or delayed. He wondered why she was still here; sometimes mingling in the conversation, sometimes just listening, but always watching him.

'Ogata-san's suspiciousness must be rubbing off on me.' He thought to himself with amusement, before shaking off his uncomfortable-ness. 'Shindou-chan is probably just tired or something.' he told himself. 'It's a lot earlier than she is used to, after all.' Ashiwara smiled slightly at that thought; Shindou's tardiness was a well known fact in the go world.

--

Hikaru entered her bedroom and dumped both herself and her bag on the bed, feeling stupid, helpless and absolutely exhausted. The day had started out well enough. 'Ok, maybe not _that_ well: dealing with Ogata-sensei's suspicions early in the morning isn't my idea of having a good time, but still, I went over to Ashiwara-san and inserted myself in the conversation without to much trouble or embarrassment. At least at first.'

The young go pro groaned and hid her head in her pillow. She had tried to be subtle about her questions; asking him how long he had been playing go, how old he was when he started etc. Still some of her questions had caused some strange glances to be thrown her way, like when she asked him if he knew about Saeki's girlfriend trouble, since he seemed to get along with him very well. It was her subtle way of figuring out if he himself had a girlfriend. Or at least her attempt at subtle. And at figuring that out. An awkward silence had ensued that she had tried to ease by explaining that she was just concerned about her sempai. 'Though whether any of those people actually bought that is anyone's guess.' The girl sighed and admitted to herself; 'I guess it is a bit weird to discuss such intimate things with people you hardly know. But still, how else am I going to figure things out? How else am I going to help Sai?'

Things hadn't gotten much better as the day went on. She had watched the demonstration match; her eyes glued to Ashiwara-san but not really watching him at all, just staring, trying to hold on to the determination and bracing herself for the embarrassment to follow. Because even though her earlier conversation with him was excruciatingly awkward, Hikaru wouldn't let herself give up. 'And embarrassment did follow.' she shook her head to dispel the image of her second attempt, that was pretty much just as bad as the first. The memories wouldn't leave her head however, and she couldn't repress the feelings of utter failure and helplessness. So in the end she just let the humiliation and embarrassment that she had kept at bay all day finally overtake her and cried herself to sleep.

--

**Author's note:**

It's been ages since I last updated! I re-read my whole story so that I could get back in the swing of things and I was infinitely grateful to myself that I already had a chunk of this chapter written down. (I always make a start on a new chapter before submitting the finished one because continuing a story is so much easier than staring at a blank paper. lol.)

I'm not really satisfied with it but really didn't know how to improve it. Oh well...

Thanks for reading (and reviewing)


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